We recently spoke with Rob Conley, President of Crash Rescue Equipment Services, Inc., a client of the Firm

What was the story behind launching the company?

Crash Rescue Equipment Service, Inc. was founded in 1967 by Robert Relyea as a service company to maintain Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) equipment at majorcommercial airports in North America. Our highly skilled technicians traveled throughout North America and around the world supporting ARFF equipment at commercial airports.

In 1978, Crash Rescue Equipment Service, Inc. began remanufacturing all sizes of ARFF vehicles for airport and government agencies throughout the United States as well as the international marketplace. Remanufacturing is the core of our business today as we fulfill government contracts, and receive vehicles from all over the world. The earlier expertise gained through those many years of service has allowed us to become the industry leader in the remanufacture and support of all types and brands of airport firefighting equipment, including Oshkosh, KME, and Emergency-One.

What are some of the important milestones your company has experienced? The award in 2000 of a 10 year, United States Air Force remanufacturing contract. That contract set the trajectory of this company. Additionally, the invention of the Snozzle, an aerial device used to pierce the skin of aircraft that have crashed was also a milestone. The Snozzle became a globally recognized product in the ARFF industry. In 2011, we were granted our ISO9001:2008 certification for the remanufacturing of heavy vehicles.

My business partner, Kevin, and I bought Crash Rescue several years ago and relocated to Dallas to run the company.

Where is your main office?

Crash Rescue headquarters, executive and administrative offices, is located at 4012 West Illinois Avenue, Dallas, Texas. The large manufacturing plant for New Products is located at the same address, extending far back into the property. The REBUILD division (or “Downstairs”, as we call it) is a huge complex on a lower terrace at 4012 West Illinois Avenue.

The entire facility of Crash Rescue is a total of 250,000 sq ft of “under roof” operations, built on 28 acres of land. This includes a driving track for vehicle testing, and an onsite Dyno Testing area for engine testing and documentation.

How many team members/ employees are there? Currently, there are 70.

What is your company’s revenue for the most recent year? $5M

What is the projected revenue for the current year? $22M

What problem does your product or service solve?

We are now a remanufacturing company focused on rebuilding both ARFF equipment and oil field fracturing/stimulation equipment. We take equipment that has been used hard and return it to a zero hour, brand new unit. Technically, it’s a remanufactured unit, but it is returned to the state in which it was purchased new.

What is something exciting or innovative that your company is doing?

We have created a prototyping process for remanufacturing, whereby we document and standardize a customers equipment with exceptional quality.

What makes your company different from others?

The framework by which we manage. It is based in people, processes and systems developed over years of application and practice in complex, manufacturing environments.

How would you rate/describe your experience with our firm?

Excellent.

Would you recommend us to a friend or business associate?

Yes. The quality of work is excellent and the rates are very fair and reasonable.

What will your company look like in 5 years?

Our goal in 5 years is to pass the $100M mark in revenue.